1. Statement of the Technical Field
The invention concerns latch mechanisms, and more particularly, latch mechanisms for fastening a handheld communications device to a vehicular mounting system.
2. Description of the Related Art
There are many latch mechanisms known in the art for fastening a handheld communications device (such as a radio) to a vehicular mounting system. Such latch mechanisms allow the handheld communications device to be stored for ready use in the vehicular mounting system. The latch mechanisms typically allow the handheld communications device to be quickly and easily inserted into the vehicular mounting system and secured therein for later use.
However, such latch mechanisms typically suffer from certain drawbacks. For example, latch mechanisms are often provided with numerous parts, a complicated assembly feature, and a large physical size characteristic. As such, there remains a need for a latch mechanism that provides users with a compact, cost effective mechanism that can be easily assembled.
It should be appreciated that a handheld communications device may be inserted and removed from a vehicular mounting system many times throughout a day. In this regard, the latch mechanism needs to provide users with easy and reliable insertion and removal features. It should also be appreciated that a handheld communications device can be damaged by external forces. For example, a vibration force is caused by driving a vehicle over a rough terrain. Such a vibration force can damage a handheld communications device. Therefore, the latch mechanism needs to optimize an interface between the handheld communications device and the vehicular mounting system such that a communications device will not be damaged by an external force.